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Opinion: Editorials

Editorial: Snapshots from the nation's press

Posted:
01/21/2018 11:30:30 PM MST

Journalists and supporters display placards during a protest in favour of the freedom of press in Manila on Friday. Philippine journalists took to the streets in support of a news website facing state-enforced closure, accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of trampling on press freedom. The government withdrew the corporate registration of the Rappler website this week and has summoned its chief executive to answer a "cyber-libel" complaint in what media watchdogs describe as payback for critical coverage of Duterte's deadly war on drugs. (TED ALJIBE / AFP)

Duterte's next victim?

Even among that cast of illiberal leaders who rouse mobs with their ruthless policies and disdain for democratic protections, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines stands out for his viciousness. He has effectively declared open season on those he and his minions accuse of being drug users and dealers, at least 4,000 of whom have been killed by the police and vigilantes since he came to office.

Exposing such brazen abuse of power is a hallowed mission of a free press, so it should come as no surprise that authoritarians like Mr. Duterte usually go after independent media. One particularly tenacious critic of the president's vicious crackdown has been a leading online news site, Rappler, and on Monday the government announced that it was revoking its license.

Rappler has appealed the decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines, and in the meantime the website can continue to operate. The time would be well used by other governments and nongovernmental supporters of democracy to condemn this effort to silence independent voices.

Of course, Mr. Duterte should be condemned first and foremost for his blatant violations of human rights. But the ability of a democracy to repair the damage caused by bad leaders requires the survival of critical democratic institutions, a free press among them.

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Like other populists sitting in presidential palaces around the world, and there are lamentably many today, Mr. Duterte had, at least until recently, enjoyed solid support, in his case from an electorate that has endured too much crime and corruption. An independent press is essential to explain why mass extrajudicial killings cannot be the right answer and to prepare the way for the restoration of the rule of law.

The action against Rappler is only the tip of Mr. Duterte's assault on his media critics. His supporters have also made the Philippines a swamp of fake news, conspiracy theories and online harassment. Mr. Duterte has refused to condemn the flood and has denied any involvement in its creation. Predictably, he also denied that the revocation of Rappler's license was political, and he said he didn't care whether or not Rappler continued to operate.

"This is pure and simple harassment," Rappler declared on its site, vowing to continue and urging readers "to stand with us again at this difficult time." We urge the same.

—The New York Times

Tough times for the press

A new Gallup/Knight Foundation survey of 19,196 American adults is the latest poll to show, as it summarized so well, that "media trust in the U.S. has been eroding, making it harder for the news media to fulfill their democratic responsibilities of informing the public and holding government leaders accountable." One central finding is that Americans believe the media have an important role to play in democracy, mainly in terms of informing the public, yet they do not believe the media fulfills that role.

There are many reasons for this, starting with the twin erosion of newsrooms and faith in them. When the Los Angeles Times reported last week that dozens of layoffs are expected at the California newspapers owned by Digital First Media, one detail stood out: The San Jose Mercury News newsroom, which covers one of the world's biggest wealth generators in Silicon Valley, has shrunk from 440 to just 39 union staffers and some non-union staffers. That's stunning. As is having a U.S. president who attacks the media so often and so vociferously.

Against this backdrop, impassioned support for the media from Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, in an op-ed in The Washington Post and in a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, respectively, was welcome Wednesday.

These are rough times for the U.S. media, but we vow to keep working to earn your business and trust.

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